Get the Flash Player to see this player.

The week that was:
OK so I’m back from my impromptu Thanksgiving break where I thought I could sneak away without the markets doing anything interesting. It seems Dubai had other ideas though and decided to catch everybody off guard. With no short term positions in play the effects on all of my positions were nil, other than some open equity drawdown which doesn’t effect my decision making process. In fact apart from looking at the index moves on the news I didn’t even bother to turn on my notebook. Stops in place, nothing to worry about or do but enjoy my break.

While the Asian markets sold off heavily in the absence of any direction from the U.S. the buying up on the commodities movers of Oil, Gold & Copper late in the Friday session suggest this minor hiccup will stabilize and we’ll be back on track. Over the years these little blind sides have cost me plenty though, especially when related to U.S. interest rates moves etc. A sudden panic in the market for a few weeks can sell of just enough to touch a stop, before the market resumes it’s trend and your now exited trade goes on to double in price. Remember always our goal is to catch the entire trend for our chosen trading time horizon, trying to save a few $$’s now with a tight stop will cost you far more in the long run.

FX:
While my current system has been in hiatus during the recent FX market action I’ve continued to evolve other systems to fill in the holes in the price action that currently has me on the sidelines. This has me looking at everything from different time frames that still react when the smaller time frames are congesting, to different instruments such as FX, and different signal entries to catch the trend reversals that have been prevalent recently. Wednesdays market breakout on the EUR & JPY looked promising for giving us a trending rally, but once again reaction to the Dubai news snuffed out that prospect. Given I had my feet up relaxing I was none too fussed as now I’m ready to catch a rebound if it should occur.

Equities:
No new additions, stops or actions for the past 2 weeks. Boring stuff, but it’s low maintenance and profitable over the long haul.

Equity Sectors:
No setups in the current moves for me.

Commodities:
Still riding my longer term move and also added more to this position as it continues it’s ride and moved up my wide trailing stop to lock in some profits.

Results:
FX : R
Equities : R
Equity Sectors : R
Commodities : R

Housekeeping:
Waiting game in play for the most part as positions consolidate with this volatile news. System development continues as always.

The week ahead:
Last big news week for the year with AUD & EUR rates, and the big number in the US for Jobs.

It seems the recent Forex Expo in Malaysia earlier this year was popular as the event is back in K.L. for a repeat performance!

As one of the newer events on the world trading calendar the World Forex Project bought some new names to market during it’s last appearance, and I’m sure we’ll see a similar repeat this time around. If you can’t make the K.L. event be sure to keep an eye out for the 2009 events ranging from shows in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Riga, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Brunei, Philipines,Singapore, Indonesia, India, Beijing, and of course Kuala Lumpur.

Keep an eye out for the local K.L. trading crew as we’ll be hanging around during the event for sure!

http://www.forexexpo.ru/Malaysia/index.html

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

The week that was:
It was nice to see the market stretch its legs once more and head for the recent highs. The trend is holding for the most part, but a proper correction at some point is an inevitability. Looking back at the run we’ve had these little dips haven’t been much of a worry, and if Mr Bernanke & Co can keep their mouths shut long enough we might get a few more strides out of this to ease the pain when it does arrive.

An up and coming trader pointed out the recent pullbacks enquiring to their relevance, prompting me to scroll back and look at the memorable moments in equity drawdown history my account has seen over the past 7 years or so. They really were just little sneezes in comparison. When it does arrive, I’m sure everybody will hit the panic button and jump overboard, as some of the “predictors” did a few weeks back. Then again if you predict often enough, sooner or later you’ll get it right and be the hero of the day on Bloomberg or CNBC.

Gold is on it’s way to the moon as well it seems, check out the chart in this weeks video if you haven’t already, plenty of trading action to go between here and the moon when you look at the inflation adjusted figure. Sometimes things just aren’t what they seem…

FX:
Nada, nothing, not even an inkling of a setup. On the upside it’s given me time to observe some new system ideas on the brainstorm list. The market is congested more than ever so I’m happy to wait it out.

Equities:
The new mid-term system which uses daily entries finally had it’s first signal, and rallied well for the week but no other actions to take on it yet. Long term trades are finally having a run though which is good as I would love to lift some heat off my stops. Just the one trade on the HK market that allowed for a stop movement so far though.

Equity Sectors:
No setups.

Commodities:
Still holding the one boring old position. Nothing new I wanted to get involved in.

Results:
FX : R
Equities : R
Equity Sectors : R
Commodities : R

Housekeeping:
Moved a stop, thrilling.

The week ahead:
Mild news over the rest of the week, nothing to be too concerned about for me.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

The week that was:
Correction or Annoyance? It was an interesting past few weeks. Everything from people selling all their holdings and wondering if they had picked the top, to predictions of housing collapses and commodity price falls. So after all the news announcements last week where did we find ourselves? More of the same.

Taking a moment to step back for the hype and view the S&P on a weekly chart it hardly looks like we are going through a correction. Sure the market sold down a little, but that is pretty much the way a market moves. Sometimes up, sometimes down.

With corporate takeovers and bids being launched there seems to be a healthy appetite in the market to take on some risk. Nice retracements in the price action like this are just what we need to consolidate our positions, and start looking for new opportunities as they present themselves.

FX:
A very, very slow week for me. One decent signal on Monday that failed to respond, the rest of the week was mired in congestion, although still providing plenty to think about. Caution is the best play for any short term FX trading at the moment until they find their footing and make a strong move one way or another again.

Equities:
No actions required on the seven positions I’m holding on the long term system. Again a cautious week waiting for all the rates and job data to wash out through the system. The next week looks good to pick out a few opportunities for the new daily equities system which I’m keen to role out.

Equity Sectors:
No moves, just playing the waiting game.

Commodities:
Same old same old – holding my one longer term trade and nothing else I’m looking to move on at the moment.

Results:
FX : -1.0R
Equities : R
Equity Sectors : R
Commodities : R

Housekeeping:
My notebook needs to go in for repair which I’m hoping will coincide with the Wednesday inactivity 

The week ahead:
Not much news to look out for, slow day on Wednesday perhaps with several markets having a Bank Holiday.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

The week that was: Get out of the way of the bus, or it will run you over.

So as I was cruising through K.L. the other night crossing the road I looked ahead to see a commuter bus sweeping around the corner towards my pedestrian crossing. Looking at the distance I had to cross the road vs. the distance and speed of the oncoming bus I made a judged decision that given my current momentum I would cross the road before the bus intersected my path. The other options of course were to stop and wait, or disregard the bus altogether and continue on my journey regardless, which probably wouldn’t be the wisest of options.

Equating this to the market we find a similar scenario. If we are happily trading away and see a possible correction coming, it might be wise to pause for a moment and let it pass on bye, rather than continue on our current path unabated and play chicken with the market.

In the case of the positions we currently hold, some will have enough momentum to see them through safely, and some will be hit by the bus, but thanks to having our stops in place it will be more of a glancing blow than being run over and dragged down with the market.

With the S&P continuing to play out its little daily divergence pattern it was certainly an interesting week. The constant change of direction and large range is far from normal market conditions so I found myself sitting on the sidelines for the most part watching events play out as they will. HEAPS of news out next week, so it will be an interesting start to the month.

FX:
Trade wise I missed a brilliant little setup due to a move exploding away from my entry point faster than I could get my market order away (there is only so much slippage I’m willing to take), a tweak to the order entry process shouldn’t see that issue occur again. It was a nice little setup and clearly everybody was arriving at the same conclusion at the same time. So no trades to record with many signals falling outside my overall trading rules.

Equities:
No change for the week. Market is coming off, stops are still in place, no new actions to consider until after this market move settles down.

Equity Sectors:
As above.

Commodities:
Still holding the one position and waiting for any setups that may result from the current market activity.

Results:
FX : R
Equities : R
Equity Sectors : R
Commodities : R

Housekeeping:
Nothing major, spreadsheet tweaks, planning to watch the HSI Futures this week just to see how it moves as there always seems to be chatter about it in the Asian session, although the “Prepare yourself for plenty of action and a wild ride” comments doesn’t tend towards my style of trading, but we shall see what it presents.

The week ahead:
News News News! Plenty of rates announcements and NFP in the U.S. as well so keep an even closer eye on the events calendars then usual, it should be an interesting week!

After participating in the last Futures Magazine I-Trade show I’d recommend it to any trader looking to stay up to date with what’s happening in the world of trading.

Having attended many trading seminars around the world the actual content from the speakers that you will take away is identical, but enjoyed from the comfort of your own trading zone. Thanks to the Lounge even networking with other traders is available, giving you the closest experience you can hope to have without boarding a plane & booking a hotel.

Good webinars to choose from, product vendors, and a stable platform, it’ll be two days well spent, and don’t forget it’s available on demand afterwards if you can’t fit everything into your schedule!

Rob M.

© 2009 Summit Business Media, All rights reserved. Privacy Policy.

5081 Olympic Boulevard Erlanger, KY 41018 1-800-543-0874